insead phd

PhD Programme Punches above its Weight

“ For us to be at the forefront of education we also have to be at the forefront of research.”

INSEAD’s PhD programme in Management is ranked as one of the best in the world. That’s quite an achievement for the programme which will celebrate its 30 th anniversary in 2019.

Nearly 30 years ago, Gabriel Szulanski was trying to make up his mind which PhD programme to enter. With a bachelor’s degree in computer science and an MBA with a specialisation in strategic information systems from Tel Aviv University, he was a highly sought-after candidate.

“I was accepted by very good schools in the US like UCLA and UC Berkeley because I was looking for something very specific, the strategic uses of information technology,” says Gabriel, now a Professor of Strategy at INSEAD’s campus in Singapore.

After visiting the schools that had accepted him, a friend told Gabriel about INSEAD’s newly created programme. He applied and was accepted.

“It was the first year of the programme so there was no track record or curriculum that you could inspect,” he says.

Instead, he was invited to the campus where he was impressed by the faculty he met. But the clincher in making his decision was the individual attention he would get at INSEAD.

“We would have close attention from faculty as they were developing the programme, whereas in other schools with established programmes it would be more difficult to get their attention,” recalls Gabriel, who earned his PhD in Strategy from INSEAD in 1995.

Usually, INSEAD PhD graduates go to other top schools and INSEAD hires from them to encourage a healthy circulation of ideas. It is extremely rare for INSEAD to hire its own PhD alumni back, but it does make the rare exception.

“Gabriel is an instance of such an exceptional individual,” says Phanish Puranam, Academic Director of the PhD programme, Professor of Strategy at the campus in Singapore and the Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Strategy and Organisation Design.

Phanish explains that Gabriel was hired by Wharton after he graduated and came back to INSEAD after teaching there as a professor for many years.

Unusual success Today, INSEAD’s PhD programme is consistently ranked among the Top 5 based on the number of graduates who get faculty postings. This has also contributed to INSEAD’s top position in MBA rankings such as the Financial Times which weigh doctoral programme and research as part of their evaluation.

The programme graduates eight to 12 students a year, of which more than 80 per cent go into academia, the remaining get non-academic jobs, mostly in fields such as consulting and finance.

“It’s clear that we are among the most highly successful schools in terms of placement,” Phanish says, adding that INSEAD’s ranking is unique considering it doesn’t have a major university behind it.

“Most of the top programmes belong to larger universities like Wharton (University of Pennsylvania), Stanford, Harvard and MIT,” he explains. “Being a standalone institution and being a success at the PhD in management is quite unusual.”

Belonging to a large university gives other PhD programmes two big advantages — access to the deep resources of the university’s endowment and to courses from the entire university, not just the business school.

“We don’t have either,” says Phanish, who before coming to INSEAD nearly five years ago, was head of the PhD programme at London Business School.

He points out that INSEAD makes up the difference by being innovative in the way courses are delivered. Many courses cut across specialisations which gives students a deeper understanding of each other’s subjects. INSEAD also invites guest faculty from outside the school to come and teach, and is a pioneer in using online content and delivery as part of its doctoral training.

“These innovations have helped us overcome the fact that we don’t have a big university behind us,” says Phanish.

A new programme INSEAD created the PhD programme in 1989 as it realised it couldn’t be a leader in education if it wasn’t also producing research.

“Instead of just teaching what everybody else teaches, we wanted to develop our own intellectual property,” Phanish says. “The PhD programme works for us as a way of attracting the best talent to our faculty and of leveraging the capacity of our faculty to produce high quality research.”

The first PhD cohort: Harry Korine (bottom left) is an Adjunct Professor of Strategy at INSEAD. Dana Hyde (bottom middle) is a Professor at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa. Joao Amaro de Matos (bottom right) is Associate Dean for Institutional Relations at Nova School of Business and Economics (Portugal). Gabriel Szulanski (top left) is Professor of Strategy at INSEAD. Carlos Cordon (top middle) is Lego Professor of Strategy and Supply Chain Management at IMD. Benoit Leleux (top right) is Stephan Schmidheiny Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at IMD.

The first cohort in the programme was a diverse group of six students from six nationalities including Swiss/American, Portuguese, Spanish, Belgian, Canadian and Israeli.

By comparison, the latest intake in September 2016 includes 16 students with nine nationalities from Canada, China, Colombia, Italy, Germany, France, Korea, the Russian Federation, and the US. Fifty per cent of the students are women.

A total of 82 students are now in the programme on both the Fontainebleau and Singapore campuses.

Most graduates go on to academic posts, such as Julie Battilana, now a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. Julie received a joint PhD in organisational behaviour from INSEAD and in economics and management from Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, France, in 2006.

She says what impressed her most during her studies at INSEAD were the quality of the faculty research and the diversity of the intellectual community.

“I was drawn to the vibrant international dimension of the programme, with the tremendous opportunity to learn from peers and professors from different intellectual traditions and with varied personal experiences,” Julie describes. “I felt lucky to be surrounded by deep thinkers among the faculty and doctoral students with diversity across disciplines, theories, and empirical methodologies.”

Making the best even better The programme’s primary source of funding is the school. Students pay no tuition and receive a stipend to cover living expenses. The total cost per student over the five years is about €350,000.

Phanish lists several improvements he would like to make if additional resources were available.

“We could easily scale up to 20 or 25 students without compromising on quality,” he says, explaining that every year the programme gets more than 500 applications for 16 new places. “INSEAD’s influence in the world of ideas and practice will increase with the number of high-quality PhDs we train.”

Additional funding also would allow the programme to offer more in-house coursework and research. Since it is not part of a university system, the programme depends largely on investment by the school.

Still there are advantages to not being part of a university system. Without bureaucratic hurdles, it can be fast at experimenting.

“One of the changes we are experimenting with is creating specialisation tracks that cut across the different departments,” reveals Phanish.

This would allow students studying to get a PhD in finance, for example, to also specialise in economics to get more depth. The programme is also starting to emphasise skills in computer science applications, like machine learning and computational modelling, across subject areas.

“Promoting early adoption of these advanced techniques is something we can do fast and students can end up having an advantage by doing so,” says Phanish.

Celebrating three decades It’s early still but plans to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the programme are already being developed.

Also under consideration is linking the PhD programme ’s celebratory events with those of the school itself which will soon celebrate its 60 th anniversary.

Whatever the final plans turn out to be, it will be worth celebrating the success of the PhD programme in its ranking as one of the world’s best.

For more information about the upcoming reunion or about contributing financially to the programme, please contact Alina Jacquet .

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The Wharton – INSEAD Alliance

The alliance joins the resources of two world leaders in management education and creates global access to unparalleled business knowledge for students, faculty, and executives worldwide.,   mission — vision — milestones — leadership.

The Mission of the WHARTON-INSEAD ALLIANCE

The Alliance is a commitment from both schools to enable and encourage mutual collaborative activities for Faculty, MBA, PhD, Research and Development, and Alumni. The Wharton INSEAD Center for Global Research & Education supports the development of innovative programs and teaching materials involving faculty members from the two schools. It enables unique initiatives that neither partner could have undertaken solely. Our strategic alliance has been renewed through June 2025. Watch the video (below) to learn about our extraordinary partnership.

Thomas S. Robertson

The Wharton School is a diverse, multicultural institution that prepares current and future leaders to transform business and society on a global scale. We are incredibly proud of our international community of students, faculty and alumni, and recognize the critical need to exchange ideas and knowledge across cultures as we live, learn and conduct business in an increasingly interconnected global environment. Our alliance with INSEAD furthers our impact by encouraging collaborations among the faculty and students of both schools. It is a unique and valuable partnership that increases the span of our research and the knowledge that we disseminate to the world.

Dean Erika James

Thomas S. Robertson Executive Director of the Alliance

Erika James Dean, The Wharton School

The Alliance Vision

Our shared vision is the belief that tomorrow’s market leaders in management research and education must have global reach and be part of a global business education and knowledge network. the enhanced use of information and communication technology as well as state-of-the-art learning technologies will be critical components of that global network..

Deep collaborative relationships across the two institutions to stimulate faculty and student exchanges, promote world-class research and further enhance globalization of our curricula and learning.

The “best of the best” working in close collaboration, such that when business people anywhere are asked to name a top business program, Wharton-INSEAD are top-of-mind responses.

Each school’s abilities to work with top global corporations for management development and research sponsorship.

Ability to attract outstanding faculty to the two schools and the best students to our programs.

Alliance Milestones

The alliance between the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and INSEAD is a strategic partnership created in March 2001 to establish academic ties between two prestigious business schools based on the shared belief that tomorrow’s market leaders in management education must have global reach and be part of a global business education and knowledge network with a leadership position in America, Europe and Asia. The demands of fast-paced, multinational companies for superior global education was the key driver behind the decision to form this Alliance.

Creation of the Wharton-INSEAD Alliance

More than 100 MBA students participated in the first exchange

Renewal of the Wharton-INSEAD Alliance

Renewal signing event hosted in New York by Wharton and INSEAD Deans

10th Anniversary celebration with Deans Thomas S. Robertson (Wharton) and Dipak C. Jain (INSEAD)

15th anniversary of the Alliance. Renewal until June 2018

Alliance renews Memorandum of Understanding until 2021

Alliance renews Memorandum of Understanding until June 30, 2022.

Alliance renews Memorandum of Understanding until June 30, 2025

Since its creation, more than 2,250 MBA students have participated in the exchange

Alliance Leadership Team

Erika H. James

Dean, The Wharton School Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise Professor of Management

Executive Director, The Wharton-INSEAD Alliance Professor of Marketing

Michele Anna Klekotka

Associate Director, The Wharton-INSEAD Alliance

FranciscoVeloso

Dean of INSEAD Professor of Strategy

Guillaume Roels

Research Director, The INSEAD-Wharton Alliance Professor of Technology and Operations Management

Suzanne Sellier Di Sano

INSEAD Manager, The INSEAD-Wharton Alliance

Celebrating the Alliance

The alliance’s anniversary video.

Victor Mukhin

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Title : Active carbons as nanoporous materials for solving of environmental problems

However, up to now, the main carriers of catalytic additives have been mineral sorbents: silica gels, alumogels. This is obviously due to the fact that they consist of pure homogeneous components SiO2 and Al2O3, respectively. It is generally known that impurities, especially the ash elements, are catalytic poisons that reduce the effectiveness of the catalyst. Therefore, carbon sorbents with 5-15% by weight of ash elements in their composition are not used in the above mentioned technologies. However, in such an important field as a gas-mask technique, carbon sorbents (active carbons) are carriers of catalytic additives, providing effective protection of a person against any types of potent poisonous substances (PPS). In ESPE “JSC "Neorganika" there has been developed the technology of unique ashless spherical carbon carrier-catalysts by the method of liquid forming of furfural copolymers with subsequent gas-vapor activation, brand PAC. Active carbons PAC have 100% qualitative characteristics of the three main properties of carbon sorbents: strength - 100%, the proportion of sorbing pores in the pore space – 100%, purity - 100% (ash content is close to zero). A particularly outstanding feature of active PAC carbons is their uniquely high mechanical compressive strength of 740 ± 40 MPa, which is 3-7 times larger than that of  such materials as granite, quartzite, electric coal, and is comparable to the value for cast iron - 400-1000 MPa. This allows the PAC to operate under severe conditions in moving and fluidized beds.  Obviously, it is time to actively develop catalysts based on PAC sorbents for oil refining, petrochemicals, gas processing and various technologies of organic synthesis.

Victor M. Mukhin was born in 1946 in the town of Orsk, Russia. In 1970 he graduated the Technological Institute in Leningrad. Victor M. Mukhin was directed to work to the scientific-industrial organization "Neorganika" (Elektrostal, Moscow region) where he is working during 47 years, at present as the head of the laboratory of carbon sorbents.     Victor M. Mukhin defended a Ph. D. thesis and a doctoral thesis at the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia (in 1979 and 1997 accordingly). Professor of Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia. Scientific interests: production, investigation and application of active carbons, technological and ecological carbon-adsorptive processes, environmental protection, production of ecologically clean food.   

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100 Best universities for Mechanical Engineering in Russia

Updated: February 29, 2024

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Below is a list of best universities in Russia ranked based on their research performance in Mechanical Engineering. A graph of 714K citations received by 136K academic papers made by 158 universities in Russia was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

1. Moscow State University

For Mechanical Engineering

2. Tomsk State University

3. St. Petersburg State University

4. Bauman Moscow State Technical University

5. Ufa State Aviation Technical University

6. Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University

7. Tomsk Polytechnic University

8. Ural Federal University

9. South Ural State University

10. National Research University Higher School of Economics

11. Moscow Aviation Institute

12. Novosibirsk State University

13. ITMO University

14. N.R.U. Moscow Power Engineering Institute

15. National Research Nuclear University MEPI

16. Kazan Federal University

17. National University of Science and Technology "MISIS"

18. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

19. Samara National Research University

20. Moscow State Technological University "Stankin"

21. Novosibirsk State Technical University

22. RUDN University

23. Southern Federal University

24. Saratov State University

25. Ufa State Petroleum Technological University

26. Samara State Technical University

27. Siberian Federal University

28. Kazan National Research Technical University named after A.N. Tupolev - KAI

29. Perm State Technical University

30. Omsk State Technical University

31. Saint Petersburg State Electrotechnical University

32. Moscow Polytech

33. Saint-Petersburg Mining University

34. Magnitogorsk State Technical University

35. Saratov State Technical University

36. Moscow State University of Railway Engineering

37. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod

38. Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University

39. Tula State University

40. Belgorod State Technological University

41. Far Eastern Federal University

42. Novgorod State University

43. belgorod state university.

44. Finance Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation

45. Moscow Medical Academy

46. Kazan State Technological University

47. Russian State University of Oil and Gas

48. siberian state aerospace university.

49. Tambov State Technical University

50. Voronezh State University

51. Siberian State Industrial University

52. Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology

53. Kalashnikov Izhevsk State Technical University

54. St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

55. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia

56. Murmansk State Technical University

57. South-Western State University

58. Ogarev Mordovia State University

59. Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics

60. south-russian state university of economics and service.

61. Perm State University

62. Kuzbass State Technical University

63. Russian National Research Medical University

64. Plekhanov Russian University of Economics

65. Ulyanovsk State Technical University

66. Ulyanovsk State University

67. Penza State University

68. Kuban State University of Technology

69. Polzunov Altai State Technical University

70. Chelyabinsk State University

71. Yaroslavl State University

72. University of Tyumen

73. National Research University of Electronic Technology

74. Leningrad State University

75. Moscow State Pedagogical University

76. Udmurt State University

77. Irkutsk State University

78. North-Eastern Federal University

79. Bashkir State University

80. Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration

81. Kuban State University

82. Kuban State Agricultural University

83. St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation

84. Kemerovo State University

85. Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University

86. Orenburg State University

87. Baltic State Technical University "Voenmeh"

88. Tomsk State University of Architecture and Building

89. Chuvash State University

90. ivanovo state power university.

91. Irkutsk National Research Technical University

92. Orel State University

93. State University of Management

94. Tomsk State Pedagogical University

95. Volgograd State University

96. Petrozavodsk State University

97. Tver State University

98. Northern Arctic Federal University

99. Omsk State Transport University

100. Kaliningrad State Technical University

The best cities to study Mechanical Engineering in Russia based on the number of universities and their ranks are Moscow , Tomsk , Saint Petersburg , and Ufa .

Engineering subfields in Russia